Alumni Messenger

08/28/2009

Templeton Neuroscience Awards

Under the direction of Martin Seligman, and supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the Penn Positive Psychology Center has established the Templeton Positive Neuroscience Awards. We will award up to twenty, 2-year grants averaging $200,000 to talented young investigators pursuing neuroscientific research on topics including:
Virtue, strength, and positive emotion: What are the neural bases of the cognitive and affective capacities that enable virtues such as discipline, persistence, honesty, compassion, love, curiosity, social and practical intelligence, courage, creativity, and optimism?
Exceptional abilities: What is special about the brains of exceptional individuals and what can we learn from them?
Meaning and positive purpose: How does the brain enable individuals and groups to find meaning and achieve larger goals?
Decisions, values, and free will: How does the brain enable decisions based on values and how can decision-making be improved? What can neuroscience reveal about the nature of human freedom?
Religious belief, prayer, and meditation: How do religious and spiritual practices affect neural function and behavior?

We will be accepting applications for the Templeton Positive Neuroscience Awards until the September 30, 2009 deadline. The project website www.posneuroscience.org has more information, including the official Request for Applications.